


Litus Licencia

by BorisTheSpider



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Asexual Bruce Banner, Asexual Natasha Romanov, Coming Out, First Kiss, M/M, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3742720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BorisTheSpider/pseuds/BorisTheSpider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new villain with a mind control device attacks New York. But when her device doesn't work on Bucky, the secret he's held onto for over 80 years is revealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Out of Mind

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this a while ago, and I would've finished it up and posted it sooner but then Daredevil happened.
> 
> People in this use "not liking anyone" as a euphemism for asexuality. It really means not liking anyone _sexually_ , but I'm asexual and have had to find some simpler terms to describe it (because that isn't clear enough, evidently). I hope it doesn't make any of the lines sound too middle-school-ish, and it doesn't mean the ace characters are aromantic (although I do headcanon Nat as aro and ace).
> 
> This is only very lightly edited, because I've been watching Daredevil for the past few days, so I'm in Matt's headspace rather than Bucky and Steve's headspace(s) and it makes this rather difficult to write and edit. Since I haven't posted anything in a while, though, I wanted to get this up here.
> 
> One more thing to add to this obnoxiously long note: the summary makes this sound way more serious/dramatic than it really is. It turns kinda fluffy after the first bit. Because for some reason everything I write turns into fluff. It's a curse.

Natasha drags a hog-tied, unconscious Clint into the common area and tosses him onto the couch.

“He’s under some kind of mind control,” she says.

Bucky had heard what happened to Clint during Loki’s invasion. And he liked Clint, really, so – having been the victim of a form of mind control himself – he felt bad that the poor guy had to go through that again.

When the Avengers, minus Clint, had all assembled in the briefing room, Natasha told them what happened. A woman, most likely Asgardian, had used some sort of magic, or highly advanced technology, to force the good people of New York City to do her bidding. Clint had been trying to evacuate a particularly densely populated area when he’d come under her influence. Natasha seemed to be immune, so she’d knocked him out with a well-placed kick to the head and dragged him to the Tower.

“You’re immune?” Tony looks up from his tablet. “Is that some weird Russian thing?”

 She rolls her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m immune, but I’m pretty sure it’s not because I’m Russian.”

“Maybe it only affects certain people?” Steve shrugs as all eyes turn to him. “I mean, what differences do Clint and Natasha have?”

Everyone pauses to think, except for Tony, who scoffs, “Have you seen them? They’re completely different. Except for the spy thing. Totally different otherwise.”

Bucky looks up, to his left to Steve, and then across the table to Tony. “No, I get what he means. Nat, did everyone get controlled or just some?”

Natasha thinks for a moment. “Just some. Mostly men, I think.”

Bucky nods. “It’s, uh.” He struggles to think of the right word. “Orientation,” he blurts when he finds it.

“Oh!” Sam says, realizing what Bucky’s getting at before the others do. “Of course. Clint likes women, so he was affected. Nat doesn’t like anyone, so she’s not affected.”

“So,” Tony taps rapidly at his tablet, “she’s the only one here who can get close to this lady without getting mind-controlled. Unless anyone wants to make an announcement.” He looks around the table before continuing. “JARVIS has identified an abnormal energy signature being emitted by a moving point in the affected area. I think that’s our girl.”

“We may know where she is, but one person can’t take her down alone, no matter how capable that person is,” Steve says.

Bruce clears his throat, “I think I may be able to get close. I, uh, don’t like anyone either.” He and Natasha smile at each other.

Tony claps him on the back. “Great! You two should be able to take her down, right?”

“If she has access to such a device as she clearly possesses, she is dangerous, and she will not yield easily,” Thor booms.

“I’ll bet she’s not immune to bullets,” Bucky says. “I can sit on a rooftop a block or so away. You guys get her in position,” he gestures to Bruce and Nat, “and I’ll take the shot.”

Steve grabs his shoulder. “Buck, no. We don’t know the range on her mind control device.”

Bucky just grins at him. “Relax, Stevie. I’ll be fine. She’ll never see it coming.”

*

She sees it coming.

Everything had gone according to plan: Tony, Sam, Thor, and Steve were waiting half a mile away in a quinjet in case anything went wrong. Natasha and a Hulked-up Bruce lured her out of the hotel lobby she’d claimed as a throne room into the middle of the street. Bucky let out his breath, steadied his rifle on his metal arm, and fired. It should’ve made contact with the target. It _would’ve_ made contact, if it hadn’t been for a forcefield that suddenly appeared to stop the bullet.

The target whips her head sharply to stare straight at Bucky, a block away. Suddenly she disappears. No, she teleports. He hears Nat in his earpiece, telling the others what happened, asking Bucky if he’d seen where she went. Yeah, he’d seen. He turns all the way around to face her, sitting on his ass with a sniper rifle awkwardly cradled in his arms.

“You _dare_ fire upon me? I am your queen, fool!” she booms, stalking closer.

Bucky hears the hum of the engines before he sees the quinjet start to land on the next building over.

Steve jumps out before it lands, _that idiot_ , and starts running over. The Asgardian woman lifts up her hand, which is covered in wires and there’s something glowing right in the middle of her palm, which she aims at Bucky’s head.

Her eyes glow, and the device in her palm glows brighter, and Steve yells, “ _No!_ ” and Bucky feels dizzy and he thinks the device messed up his earpiece, but he’s _okay_. He tries to tell Steve that it’s fine, everything’s fine, but suddenly he’s facedown in the hot gravel with a sharp pain in his ribs and static in his ear from the busted earpiece, and the woman is yelling that _it should’ve worked_.

Then Steve is there, kneeling by his side, and the woman turns to him. Bucky tries to shove him away, get him to save himself, but the device glows, and so do her eyes, and Steve’s eyes glow to match. He stands up mechanically, turning towards his new master like a plant towards the Sun. Sam swoops in, finally, and grabs her, but they’re back soon enough, and Sam’s eyes are glowing. Tony fires repulsor blast after repulsor blast, but her forcefield blocks them and Sam and Steve restrain him, strong enough to overpower his armor, and soon his mask retracts and his eyes are glowing too. Thor advances on her, spinning Mjolnir in his hand, but she aims, and his eyes glow, and Mjolnir drops like a stone.

Bucky tries to climb to his feet, clutching his side, but the woman backhands him hard enough to send him sprawling back again, landing on his aching ribs with a grunt. He scrambles for his rifle, but before he can aim it at her, Steve grabs it and bends it in half, like he did so long ago in those old war propaganda films.

“ _Steve_ ,” Bucky wheezes. He tries to grab Steve’s hand, bring him back. Steve looks at him, and there’s so much _pain_ in his eyes, and Bucky realizes he’s in there. He’s _aware_ , he just can’t control his body. And that is so much worse than he thought it was, and it makes Bucky’s heart hurt, but suddenly he’s angry as hell, because who gave this lady the _right_ to mess with his Steve?

The woman saunters over to Steve, and she’s ogling him, and doesn’t that make Bucky sick. Channeling that piece of the Winter Soldier that will always be inside him, he blocks out the pain in his side and silently and swiftly pulls out a knife hidden in his boot. As she’s reaching towards Steve, he pounces on her. At the last second he decides not to kill her. Instead, he grabs her hand and shoves the knife through the device. It slices through the casing and the wiring and out the back of her hand.

He stands up and takes a few steps back, and she’s on the ground clutching her hand, when he realizes that they might have needed the device to reverse the effects.

Something touches his arm, and he whips around, but it’s just Steve and his eyes aren’t glowing anymore. Bucky collapses against Steve in relief, and Steve wraps his arms around him.

Bucky fists his hands in the back of Steve’s uniform, hanging on, “I thought I’d lost you, Stevie.”

“It’s okay now, Buck. We’re okay,” Steve says, rubbing soothing circles into Bucky’s back.

“Oh, are we hugging it out?” Tony butts in, but Sam just shoves his shoulder and he shuts up.

Natasha comes slinking over the side of the roof like a cat. “Sorry I took so long. Couldn’t figure out which building you meant by ‘the one with the grey roof’, Tony.”

“Hey, we were flying into a combat situation. I didn’t have time to come up with something more descriptive.”

“Anyway, Bruce is de-hulked and gathering up the victims now.” She waves her hand at Steve and Bucky, “Are they okay?”

“Yeah,” Sam says, then quirks an eyebrow. “Think they have some things to talk about, though.”

Nat nods, then points at the woman on the ground. “Is she okay?”

“A hole in her hand, but otherwise fine.” Sam turns to Thor, “You gonna take her back to Asgard?”

Thor nods. “Indeed. There she will face trial for her crimes against Midgard. And against Asgard as well, for I suspect her weapons are stolen.”

*

They get back to the Tower to find a very apologetic (and sore) Clint wiggling around on the floor, and Natasha mercifully cuts his binds. Sam almost immediately goes to take a nap, because superheroing is _exhausting_ , and Thor leaves with his prisoner.

Bucky is eating a sandwich and planning the rest of his day – binge-watching Star Trek and falling asleep on the couch, most likely – when Natasha walks into the communal kitchen and leans against the counter.

“So,” she says, “you weren’t affected by her mind control.”

Bucky rolls his eyes. “I noticed.” She stays where she is, watching him, so he continues. “ _Yes_ , I’m queer, or gay, or whatever they call it now. I figured that out in 1933.”

“How’d you figure it out?”

The expression on her face tells him she knows, or she’s pretending she knows, but he hesitates, gripping the edge of the counter and closing his eyes. “I—“

Of course, Steve chooses that moment to walk in. Bucky snaps his mouth shut and curses internally because he can feel himself blushing. If she didn’t know already, she certainly does now. Bucky grins at him and wills his blood to retreat from his face.

Steve smiles back and says, “Hey, Buck,” and that brings butterflies to Bucky’s stomach. He can see Steve eyeing his half-eaten sandwich, and he can’t eat when he’s this anxious, so he holds it out to him in offering. Steve takes it, thanking him, and takes a huge bite without hesitation. Natasha raises her eyebrows at Bucky, who just shrugs.

Bucky busies himself cleaning crumbs off the counter, one-by-one, while Steve takes his time getting a drink. On his way out, Steve stops and turns toward Bucky. “Hey, you coming up soon? I wanna watch Star Trek.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be up in a minute. Don’t start without me.” And now those butterflies are having a rave because Steve smiles again. His real, genuine smile that he saves just for Bucky, like he’s happy just to have him there, and Bucky has to smile back because how can he not?

The elevator doors close behind Steve and Bucky turns back to Natasha to see her just smiling knowingly at him.

“ _What,_ ” he bites.

She just shakes her head and walks away. “Nothing. Have fun on your date.”

“It’s not—“ Bucky sputters and glares at her back.

*

Bucky walks into his and Steve’s shared floor to find a pile of popcorn in front of the TV, which is ready to play Star Trek at the press of a button. He finds Steve in the kitchen grabbing a couple of cans of soda out of the fridge.

“Oh, hey Buck,” Steve grins, handing a can to Bucky.

“Hey. What’s with all the popcorn?”

Steve shrugs, “You eat a lot.”

Bucky has enough dignity to look affronted, “Hey, you eat way more than I do.”

Steve just laughs and throws an arm over Bucky’s shoulder as he walks to the couch, forcing Bucky to walk with him.

Less than a minute into the Star Trek episode, Bucky has to hide his face behind his knees, because he’s blushing like hell.

Kirk has a kink in his back, apparently, and a pretty yeoman is working it out for him, which, okay, _weird_ , but then Kirk says “ _Dig it in there, Mr Spock_ ” and when the hell did this show get so damn gay?

Bucky glances over at Steve, who doesn’t appear affected, but he’s still red as a tomato so he hides for a minute longer until his face returns to normal.

At the end of the episode, Bucky expects Steve to let it start the next one, but to his surprise he pauses it.

“So, um, something at the beginning of the show reminded me,” Steve stammers, and this can’t be good if the _something_ is what Bucky thinks it is. Bucky looks at Steve who’s looking at the floor, but Steve turns to look him in the eye before speaking again. “You weren’t affected by that lady’s mind control.”

Shit. This is what Bucky was dreading. He’d hoped Steve had forgotten, or that his mind had been conked by the device so he didn’t even know that she’d tried it on Bucky first. Bucky opens his mouth to respond, but closes it when he realizes he doesn’t know what to say. He has a feeling _yep, I’ve been head over heels for you since the early ‘30s, minus some time when I wasn’t myself_ wouldn’t go over well. But it’s the truth, and he doesn’t want to lie to Steve. He _can’t_ lie to Steve.

“Are you—do you not like anyone, like Nat and Bruce?”

Of course Steve would assume that Bucky is asexual before thinking Bucky could be attracted to men, because Bucky had never shown interest in men, at least not around Steve.

“Uh,” Bucky says articulately.

“You don’t have to answer! If you’re not comfortable telling me, you don’t have to, I mean,” Steve’s eyes go wide and he puts his hands in front of him in a placating gesture.

Except not answering him would be an answer, wouldn’t it. He knows Steve didn’t mean to put him in this position, but he can’t help feeling kind of frustrated about it.

He grits his teeth and decides to just come clean. “No, Steve, I’m, uh.” He looks at Steve and knows he must look like a deer in headlights. He clears his throat. “I… I don’t not like anyone. I like men.”

“Oh, good,” Steve breathes, and then seems to realize what he just said because he turns redder than Bucky was just under an hour ago.

Bucky quirks an eyebrow at him. “Good?”

It’s better than the rejection Bucky had feared for most of his life, but _good?_ What does that mean?

Now Steve is the one blushing and trying desperately to avoid the inevitable. Eventually he sighs and says, “I like men, too.”

Bucky’s eyebrows almost disappear into his hairline, because _wow_ he was not expecting that.

“I like women too, that’s why I could be controlled. So, um, both.” Steve ducks his head.

“So. Uh,” Bucky starts.

“I like you, Buck,” Steve whispers, and Bucky barely catches it because it’s so faint, like Steve didn’t even mean to say it.

“Oh, wow,” Bucky feels heat rising into his face again, and he rubs the back of his neck. He’s pretty sure he didn’t blush this easily before. “Um, same.”

Steve grins his sappy little grin, “You like you too?”

Bucky shoves Steve’s shoulder and grins right back, “I love you, ya punk.” It takes Bucky a second to realize he said _love_ when Steve only said _like_ , but he doesn’t worry for long because Steve is practically melting right in front of him.

“I love you too, jerk.” Steve scoots a little closer. “How long?”

Bucky huffs out a breath, “That’s kind of a personal question.”

Steve laughs – oh, Bucky could listen to that laugh forever – and looks at Bucky like he’s the most marvelous person in the world. “Come on, wise guy, you know what I mean.”

Steve is _so close_ now, and Bucky is so tempted to lean in and taste him, but he wants Steve to know this. He says, “Since 1933. Or before. I only figured out what it was in ’33. You got sick real bad and I just… I realized that you were the most important thing in my life. You still are.”

Steve closes the distance between them and their lips meet. After a few seconds, though, Bucky pulls back.

“What about you? When did you know?”

Steve grins sheepishly. “You’ve got me beat by a while. I didn’t know until you got captured by Hydra – the first time,” he says shakily, and Bucky can see that it pains Steve to talk about that, so he grabs his face and pulls him back in for another kiss.

Steve pushes Bucky down into the cushions and straddles his hips, breaking the kiss to take off his shirt.

“Your bed or mine?” Bucky gasps.

Steve grinds his hips down. “Why don’t we stay here?”

Bucky groans, “Deal.”

*

The next morning, Bucky wakes to Steve laying on top of him, sticky and warm. He stays there for a few moments, content to watch Steve sleep. Before long, though, nature calls.

Bucky grunts. “Steve.” He pushes at Steve’s arms, coiled around Bucky’s torso like an octopus. “Stevie, come _on_ , I gotta take a leak.”

Suddenly he hears the elevator doors slide open, and Tony walks in talking to either himself or JARVIS.

Steve chooses this moment to grumble ( _c’mon Buck just a few more minutes_ ) and burrow himself deeper into Bucky’s side.

That draws Tony’s attention, and he looks up from his tablet right at quite a bit more of Captain America than he _ever_ needed to see. He lets out a most manly shriek and immediately turns tail and darts back into the elevator, furiously pressing the ‘close door’ button.

Tony’s scream wakes Steve up, but he’s mostly sleepy and confused, so he just starts kissing Bucky’s neck.

“Everyone’s gonna know in a few minutes.”

“What?” Steve leans up on an elbow to peer at Bucky in confusion.

“Tony’s gonna tell everyone what he saw.”

“What’d he see?”

“I think he mostly saw your ass.”

Steve laughs into Bucky’s shoulder. “No one’s gonna believe him.”

Bucky grabs the nearest shirt off the floor and starts to put it on. “They will, because they suspected already.”

Steve grunts as if to say, _I don’t care, just stop getting un-naked_.

*

After a not-so-quick shared shower, Steve and Bucky exit the elevator onto the common floor. The rest of the Avengers have assembled around the kitchen table, discussing something in hushed tones. Tony looks up when they walk in and he immediately shushes the group.

“So,” Tony says dramatically. “The Icemen cometh.” He grimaces, “Okay, poor word choice.”

Natasha winks at Bucky. “I see you didn’t waste any time getting your boy.”

Bucky laughs. “I wasted 82 years. Didn’t wanna waste any more.” He and Steve smile at each other.

“ _Aww_ ,” Darcy coos from the far corner. When did she get here? She’s not even an Avenger. Bucky tells her as much.

Darcy scoffs. “What, I can’t come hang out with my BFF’s hunky boyfriend and his beautiful super-friends? Who are, apparently, getting _involved_ with each other, in the most down-and-dirty sense.” She raises her eyebrows pointedly at Steve and Bucky. They both turn red.

Bruce steps in, “What Darcy means is that you can trust us. You can tell us these things, judgement-free.”

“I know that,” Steve says. “ _We_ know that.”

“It just happened, though. Just last night,” Bucky says. “And Nat knew.”

Tony whirls on Nat, “You _knew_? And you didn’t tell us?”

Nat rolls her eyes. “I didn’t know they had sex. I just knew they were completely in love with each other. Or rather, I knew Bucky was in love with Steve. It wasn’t that hard to see it was the same the other way around, though.”

“She’s right,” Clint says. “I saw it years ago.”

Steve finally takes a seat. “Bucky wasn’t even here years ago.”

“I figured it out in history class,” Clint leans back and rests his feet on the table. He grins, “Reading old SSR files at SHIELD only cemented my belief.”

Tony taps his chin, “You know, now that you mention it, some stuff dear old dad said about how close you two were might have been a hint. I always thought it was just an old person thing. Or a military thing.”

“Howard knew?” Bucky looks horrified.

Tony shrugs.

“If it’s really that obvious…” Steve trails off and looks up at Bucky.

A few seconds pass before Tony says, “Could you two maybe not do that weird couples-telepathy thing here?”

“You do it with Pepper all the time,” Steve says. He chews his lip. “We wanna tell everyone.”

Tony quirks an eyebrow. “We already know.”

Steve shakes his head. “ _Everyone_. Hold a press conference, or—I don’t know.”

Bucky sits down and picks up Steve’s hand with his own, lacing their fingers together. “We want the world to know. All the young people who are struggling with their own shit, all the assholes who’ll attack us for it, _everyone_.”

The others all lean back in surprise.

Tony says, “JARVIS, call Pepper.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The unnamed villain is inspired by Stargate SG-1, which I was watching when I got the idea for this fic. Because why do those "seductress" characters work on all men (and never on women)?! The stuff used in Stargate to the same effect is actually completely different from what's described in this fic. I kinda just combined two different pieces of tech from the show to simplify it and make it a little more Asgardian (Marvel Asgardian, not Stargate Asgardian!!).
> 
> The next chapter will be the press conference, because I _love_ fics that show Steve coming out to the world and verbally kicking bigoted ass, so I just have to write it.


	2. Into the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A press conference is held, and Bucky becomes a Tumblr sensation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I wasn't in a writing mood for a while.
> 
> Unbetaed and only lightly edited, so there are probably some mistakes.

“The more conservative outlets will try to show you in a bad light, they’ll ask questions that will make you angry. _Do not take the bait_.”

“No arguing with the bigots, got it.”

Steve smacks Bucky in the shoulder. “Thanks for everything, Ms. Potts.”

“Two minutes to start!” an intern calls out from down the hallway.

Pepper smiles at Steve and Bucky. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Steve says, just as Bucky says, “We’ll need it.”

Bucky can’t remember the last time he was this nervous as he sits down in front of the sea of reporters. Actually, he was probably more nervous just the other night, when he confessed his feelings to Steve. This won’t be nearly as personal. He’ll be fine.

The journalists haven’t been told why the Avengers are holding a press conference, just that there’s something very important they need to say. Bucky grips Steve’s hand to steady his nerves.

The other Avengers – in a show of support, they’re all here, even Rhodey – sit down at the table, leaving Bucky and Steve sitting right in the middle, and suddenly they’re starting. Pepper is the first to speak. She begins with all the usual pleasantries, the _thank you for coming_ s, as if she’s sitting down with a particularly difficult client.

Eventually, she gives Steve and Bucky the cue to start talking whenever they’re ready.

Bucky is surprisingly calm. He’s done press stuff before, and he’s got his best guy by his side. He feels invincible. He squeezes Steve’s hand and clears his throat, blurting out:

“We’re in a relationship.”

A few camera flashes go off, but there’s none of the uproar they were expecting. One reporter raises his hand to ask a question.

“Hi, Noah Spurling from the _New York Times_. Sergeant Barnes, how long have you been in a relationship with the Black Widow?”

“Um—what?”

Steve laughs. Natasha just raises an eyebrow, but to anyone who knows her she’s clearly amused.

 _Of course they'd assume a straight relationship_. Bucky squares his jaw, levels a defiant look at the now-confused reporter, and lifts his and Steve’s clasped hands up onto the table.

 _Now_ the uproar begins. Dozens of camera flashes blind them momentarily and every reporter in the room is scrambling to make their questions heard.

They only stop when Steve puts on his Captain America face and politely asks them to _sit down and ask one question at a time, please_. A few cameras go off and must capture the totally-besotted-and-a-little-bit-turned-on look Bucky is directing toward Steve.

The same reporter asks again, sheepishly, “Sergeant Barnes, how long have you been in a relationship with Captain America?”

Bucky grins triumphantly, “Well, _Steve_ and I have been goin’ steady since, hm…” he cocks his head and taps his chin dramatically.

“Since three days ago,” Steve laughs and tries to shove Bucky with his shoulder, but really just ends up leaning into him.

A few _aww_ s can be heard from within the densely-packed crowd of journalists.

Bucky leans right back at him, “Yeah, three days ago, but I’ve been pining after this punk since the early 30s.”

Steve ducks his head, “Likewise, but about ten years later.”

Cue more coos of adoration.

A reporter shoots her hand up, “Would you have gotten together sooner if there hadn’t been such strict laws against homosexuality in the past?”

Bucky runs his hand through his hair. “Probably? I mean, if things were back then how they are now, maybe. Everything’s not perfect today, but we got together, so… why not? Would’ve made things a lot easier, for sure.”

“Captain Rogers, are you going to resign as Captain America?” another reporter asks.

Steve’s brows furrow. “I wasn’t planning on it, no.”

“How can you continue to wear that name and uniform if you don’t abide by the morals of this country?”

Steve’s jaw drops.

Bucky stands up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor, “Hey, _pal_ , we came out today to help people. And you know what? You’re real fuckin’ lucky you don’t understand that. When I first realized how I felt about other guys, about _Steve_ , I thought I was a monster, some kinda _freak_. I couldn’t even tell my best friend because I was so ashamed. And sometimes I still feel like that, before I remember, ‘hey, it’s _okay_ ,’ because it’s so _fucking ingrained_ in my head. We came out today to tell everyone who’s struggling with this shit that you’re not a freak, or broken, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. And if you’ve got a problem with that, you’ve got a problem with me, and I hope you’ve read all my files so you know that you don’t fucking want to be on my bad side.” Bucky sits down and runs both hands through his hair. “You say Steve doesn’t abide by the morals of this country? America is fucking nothing without its ideals, first and foremost that everyone is equal, and you don’t have the fucking right to judge someone for something that they can’t change, and that doesn’t hurt anyone. If this America doesn’t believe that, then it’s fucking _trash_! How’s that for morals, asshole?”

Bucky huffs out a breath and is met with stunned silence from both the audience and his fellow Avengers. Someone, somewhere, starts clapping, but Bucky’s not paying attention because Steve is pulling him in for a searing kiss, cameras be damned.

*

The next morning, Steve comes in from his jog, fuming, with a newspaper in his hand. He tosses it on the counter in front of Bucky before angrily pouring a glass of orange juice.

Bucky picks it up, reading the headline out loud, “The Winter Soldier: ‘America Is Trash’” He laughs into his coffee.

Steve downs his juice in one go. “They took your words completely out of context, Buck. How can you laugh about that?”

Bucky shrugs. “I figured someone would, but it’s fine. Check it out,” he pulls up a couple social media sites on his tablet. “Tony says we broke Twitter _and_ Tumblr.”

Steve scrolls down, reading as he goes along. “Oh, your speech made this person cry.”

“ _Happy tears_ , Steve. I made people cry happy tears. Not bad for a geriatric cyborg assassin, right?”

“Geriatric cyborg assassin?”

“That’s what people on here call me! They love me, it’s great. I’ve been thinking about making an account,” he takes the tablet back and taps on it a few times. “What should my name be?”

“Hey, don’t forget about me,” Steve bumps Bucky with his hip. “I loved you before you made rousing speeches on live television.”

“I could never forget you,” Bucky presses a kiss to Steve’s lips. “Now, what do you think about ‘buckgaybarnes’?”

“Bucky, no!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to anyone who uses the username 'buckgaybarnes', if anyone does. It was the funniest one I could think of.
> 
> The last bit of Bucky's monologue is totally ripped off from [_What If?_ #44](http://prettyfakes.com/2006/11/america-is-a-piece-of-trash/). He wasn't supposed to make a big speech, but it just sort of...happened. And I kept it, because it's kind of awesome and someone should do that in real life.
> 
> Come talk about (read: fangirl over) our favorite geriatric cyborg assassin on my [Tumblr](http://brandybuckybarnes.tumblr.com)!


End file.
